Yesterday I said why He is called Eka and Deva nam deva and why He is all-pervasive and why He is always both within and without the universe. And He is Sarvavyápii, all-pervasive. It’s a fact, but how and why is He Sarvavyápii? And what’s the meaning of “sarva”?

I told you in the past that the word sarva means “all things”. In the word sarva there are three letters, rather, three acoustic roots: they are “sa”, “ra” and “va”. For each and every vibrational expression there is a particular acoustic root: there cannot be any vibrational expression without an acoustic root. Wherever there is any vibration, wherever there is any expression, there is some sound. That sound may or may not be audible, but the sound exists. And wherever there is any vibration, there must be some colour. That colour may or may not be visible, but the colour is there.

So for all the Cosmic expressions, there are fifty pencils of vibration – not fifty vibrations, but fifty pencils of vibration. And if we analyse properly, we get about one thousand vibrations. And that is why the pineal gland, the controlling body or controlling structure of those one thousand vibrations in the human body, is called “sahasrara cakra”, that is, “controlling one thousand vibrations”. But those one thousand vibrations come within fifty pencils of vibration, and those fifty pencils have sound, they have colour.

And on the basis of these fifty vibrations the Saḿskrta alphabetical order has been created. The first vibrational pencil is “a” and the last one is “ksa” – total of fifty, sixteen svara and thirty-four vyaiṋjana, sixteen vowels and thirty-four consonants.

Now these sounds, starting with “a”, though they are sounds, at the same time have their respective colours. And because they are not only sound but also colour, and because the Saḿskrta word for “colour” is “varna”, these fifty letters are also known as “varńa málá”.⁽¹⁾ Actually, they are both shabda málá and varńa málá. And because the first letter is “a” and the last one is “kśa”, the alphabet is called “akśa málá”.

You see that the Rk Vaedika pronunciation of “śa” (when combined with “ka”) is “ksha”, and the Yajur Vaedika pronunciation is “kha”. So you may say “aksha málá” or you may say “akha málá”; they are equally correct.

The first sound is “a”, the last is “kśa”, that’s why it is known as “akśa málá”. And that Parama Puruśa on whose infinite space these akśa málás are dancing, are being radiated, through Parama Prakrti, the Cosmic Operative Principle, may be suitably termed “Rudra” + “aksa” = “Rudrákśa”. These letters are not only sounds, they are not only colours, they are acoustic roots also.

And you know the first letter, “a”. “A” represents creation. Whenever you are going to create anything, mentally or physically, that tendency of your mind and that dexterity of your hand is represented by the sound “a”. Hence the sound “a” is the acoustic root of creation. And because before creation nothing can happen, because creation is the first or primordial phase of everything, “a” is the first letter.

Similarly, in the field of consonants, the first one is “ka”. Why is “ka” the first consonant? Because “ka” is the acoustic root of objectivated Brahma, or Kárya Brahma, the effected form of creation. The sound of creation is “a”, and the first sound emanating from that created being is “ka”; that’s why “ka” is the first consonant, Kárańa Brahma. A-u-ma, particularly “a”, is Kárańa Brahma, Causal Brahma, the causal counterpart. And for the effect counterpart the acoustic root is “ka”. Hence “ka” is the first consonant in “Kárya Brahma”.

In Saḿskrta the sound or the letter “ka” has three meanings. First “ka” means “Kárańa Brahma”. In Buddhist philosophy Kárya Brahma is called “Saḿvrtti bodhicitta”. “Kaḿ saḿvrtti bodhicittam pálayati iti kápálika” – He who protects the created universe, he who is engaged in the pálana kriyá of the expressed universe, is kápálika. The second meaning of “ka” is the expressed universe. And the third meaning of “ka” is “water”. And one day I told you that “Kena arthát jalena toyena chaditaḿ ityarthe kaccha” – “land surrounded by water is known as ”Kaccha“.” And you known one aquatic plant that is used as a leafy vegetable, called “karmi” in Hindi, “kalmi” in Bengali, “kalambii” is Saḿskrta.

Similarly, all fifty letters are acoustic roots of different expressions. Among them there is one letter, “sa”. You shouldn’t forget the sound. “Sa”, “sha” and “śa”. “Sa” is the acoustic root of the sentient principle, Sattvaguńa. “Sha” is the acoustic root of the mutative principle, Rajoguńa. And “śa” is the acoustic root of the static principle, Tamoguńa. “Va” is the acoustic root of Dharma, and “ra” is the acoustic root of energy, electricity, magnetism. All energies are represented by the acoustic root “ra”. That’s why it is the old system of this country to prefix the word “Shrii” before the name. “Sha” represents Rajoguńa, “ra” represents energy, and this in the feminine becomes “shrii”. “Shrii” means the man who wants to have mutative activity and that his existence be full of energy.

Now “sa”. When Parama Puruśa is first expressing Himself, first being attributionalized, then we can represent His qualities or the binding principle thereon, by the sound “sa” because the principle is Sattvaguńii in that phase. And the principle is called “Kaośikii Shakti”. Then, in the process of creation, what happens? The process is served by energy, that is “ra”. And whenever something is created, there must be some characteristics, or wonts, or properties, in it. Water drenches. Drenching is its property. And where this property of drenching is lacking, we will not recognize it as water. If fire cannot burn, it will not be recognized as fire. So each and every entity has its special wont. “Sa”, “ra”, “va” – each and every entity has its origin in the sentient principle, represented by the acoustic root “sa”; each and every entity has energy in it, represented by the sound “ra”; and each and every entity has its own Dharma. (Human Dharma is called “Bhágavata Dharma”. For each and every human being there is a Dharma, and that Dharma is Bhágavata Dharma. If that Dharma is lacking, if there is no expression of that Dharma from a human body, we will say that that person is not a human being, that that person is worse than an animal.) So “Sa”, “ra”, “va” – “Sarva ucyate.” Because of the assemblance of these three letters, we say “sarva”, meaning “everything”; everything is guided by this principle.

So “sarvavyápii” – in each and every entity, that is, sarva, He is pervading. He is all-pervading, all-pervasive. And where does this sarva reside? This sarva is the attributionalized form of that Non-attributional Entity.

And in this Sarva there is a Nucleus; i.e., the witnessing portion of this Sarva is the Nucleus, and the witnessed portion of Sarva is all created beings. And I said once that all those created beings are moving around that Nucleus, that Witnessing Entity. And the march of the witnessed entities towards the Nucleus is their spiritual advancement. What is spiritual advancement? It is the march from electronic imperfection towards nuclear perfection.

“Sarvavyápii sarvabhútántarátmá.” “Sarvabhúta” means “all created entities”. “Bhúta” means “created being”: root “bhu” + “kta” = “bhúta”, that is, “come into being”. “Bhútatakál” means “past tense” – “that which already happened”. And if we write “bhuta” it means “ghost”. (But this is not a Saḿskrta word. The Saḿskrta word for ghost is “preta”, not “bhuta”.) Now there may be a question, can antarátmá, the spirit, or the jiivátmá, exist only in living beings? “Sarvabhúta” means stone, metal, wood, everything – whatever has been created comes within the scope of “bhúta”. So the question is, is there any antarátmá or jiivátmá in all those inanimate beings? Certainly there is, but due to their undeveloped stage of mind, undeveloped condition of mind, the jiivátmá, or antarátmá, is not in a dominating role, is not in a prominent role. But the jiivátmá is there. Because of the mind being in a dormant form, the expression of jiivátmá is not clear, is not in a dominant form, in a dominating form. So it is the antarátmá of Sarvabhúta, of all created beings from Brahmá to stamba. What is “Brahmá” here? “Brahmá” means “the creative faculty”. The Supreme Entity creates, He nourishes and preserves. He destroys. When He creates He is called Brahmá. He is the same Entity; Brahmá, Viśńu and Maheshvara are not separate entities. When creating He is known as Brahmá, when preserving He is known as Viśńu, and when destroying He is known as Maheshvara.

I told you that the same man, Rámajiivana, is known as Ráma to his father, as Rámu at work – and his children say “Bábujii”, and his students “Master Sahib”. And when he is moving along the street wearing a t́opii⁽²⁾, the táuṋgávála⁽³⁾ will say, “Hey t́opii! Hey t́opii! Hey t́opii!” He becomes a t́opii. But the man is that single man Rama.

And similarly, here, these three faculties, Brahmá, Viśńu and Maheshvara, are of the same Entity. So when He creates – I told you that the acoustic root of creation is “a” – when He creates, He is “Brahma” + “a”. What will be the result of the sandhi? “Brahmá”. And that’s why He is known as Brahmá.

“Ábrahmastamba.” From the creative faculty, Brahma, to a stamba – stamba means “blade of grass” – everything is His creation. So His reflections are there everywhere. Nobody is negligible, nobody is insignificant. Everybody, everything is significant - all things carry some meaning. And why do they carry some meaning? Because they are reflections of Parama Puruśa. “Sarvabhútántarátmá.”

And He is Karmádhyakśa. In Ánanda Sútram it is written, “Puruśah akartá”. “Akartá” means that He is not associated with krdhátu. He is not associated with the root verb “kr”, but He is associated with the permission for creation. Without His permission, Prakrti cannot create anything. So although He is not directly associated with creation, He is the Supreme Supervisory Faculty. He is the Supreme Supervisor. In a college the principal may or may not teach, may or may not hold any class, but they supervise the work of the entire teaching staff. So Parama Puruśa is Adhyakśa, “adhi” + “akśa”, that is He sees. Nobody remains covert, nothing remains secret, in the actional sphere or in the sphere of psychic vibration. He knows everything. So He is known as Karmádhyakśa. Now, those who are at the same time wise, and clever, and cunning, must be in close contact and in sincere love with that Karmádhyakśa, because everything depends upon His Grace. Human beings are very weak; without His Grace nothing can be done.

Footnotes

(1) “Málá” means “garland”, so “varńa málá” means “garland of letters”. –Eds.

(2) Cap.

(3) Carriage driver.